1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a probe carrier managing method, a probe carrier manufacturing apparatus and a probe carrier managing apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
A probe, which can specifically couple with a target substance of a specific base sequence, such as a short single-stranded DNA strip and the like tagged by radioactive isotopes or other fluorescent materials, has been used for gene examination or analysis of a base sequence of gene DNA. As means for providing a plurality of kinds of probes simultaneously, probe carriers, such as a DNA chip prepared by arraying a plurality of probes to be coupled with target substances as objects for detection on a carrier of glass and the like or other carrier, are attracting attention.
In the recent years, studies have progressed in the area of applying technology relating to an ink-jet printer to the manufacturing of the probe carrier to enable to fix tens of thousands of probes on a single probe carrier. While the ink-jet printer places ink at accurate positions on a printing medium by ejecting droplets having a trace amount of ink, a high-density probe carrier can be manufactured by injecting a solution containing the probe in place of the ink in one operation.
When manufacturing the probe carrier, probes have to be fixed on the chip in a desired arrangement. However, there is a problem in that it is difficult or even impossible to constantly maintain an accurate arrangement of tens of thousands of probes.
On the other hand, when the probe carrier, such as a DNA chip and the like, is commercialized and placed on the market, it is possible for the probe carrier to fail after manufacturing, but before use, during distribution. A failure may be caused by:
(1) taking the wrong probe in the manufacturing stage, alternation of the probe or mixing of a plurality of probes;
(2) alternation of the probe in the distribution stage; and
(3) misidentification of the result of the inspection during the inspection stage. Other causes may also be possible. However, while the failure of the probe carrier is normally found during the inspection stage, the cause of the failure cannot be specified unless appropriate management is exercised.